Box 13. Guidelines for the Stakeholder Group Meetings

The GFAR stakeholder group consultation sessions provide a unique opportunity for the stakeholder constituencies to discuss and prepare for the full range of topics that have been or are to be addressed during the conference, and to evaluate the outcomes of the conference from a specific stakeholder perspective.

The three specific objectives of these sessions are to:

• allow each constituency group to express its evaluation of the conference organization and outputs
• formulate its stakeholder statement which will be delivered by a person designated by them at the closing session
• discuss a range of issues that the constituency group deems critical for the development of the next GFAR business plan in which the constituency proposes to be actively involved in the coming three years.

Practical arrangements

• Grouping in this session will be strictly by stakeholder group and participants are only allowed to join the stakeholder group to which they belong
• Each group will be assigned to meet in a given room which will be announced during the conference.

Roundtable mechanics

With the exception of the NARS, management of the groups is left to the groups themselves as no pre-assigned facilitators will be provided. However, to aid in the preparation of a synthesis, the groups must nominate a facilitator and rapporteur. The Chair of GFAR will lead the NARS stakeholder consultation, and no facilitators will be provided. However, the group must select a rapporteur.

• The facilitator will animate the discussions and ensure that the objectives are met and that most participants have the opportunity to express their views and opinions on the subject. It is important that the facilitator is able to elicit concrete recommendations on the subject.
• The rapporteur will be responsible for capturing the salient points in the discussion. He/she will have to make sure that issues raised and agreements reached are documented. All rapporteurs will meet in the evening with the GFAR Management Team to synthesize discussion outputs which will then be presented the following day in Plenary Session III. Facilitators are welcome to join.

A set of issues for discussion will be provided by the GFAR Secretariat for the consideration of the groups. Background documents, if any, will also be made available.

It will be difficult for the synthesis group to analyze and capture the richness and diversity of discussion in the groups. In order to capture the main contributions of the participants, it is critical that the rapporteurs follow the attached guidelines and report the results in the same format.

Expected output and plenary session reports

The expected outputs of these sessions include:

• Stakeholder assessments of the conference as a constituency
• Stakeholder statements to be presented at the end of the conference, with mention of the specific points of importance to their constituency and identification of some GFAR activities that they suggest be in the GFAR business plan for the coming three years. These are activities in which they want to be actively involved, and possibly take a leading responsibility in their implementation.

Box 19. Issues for Discussion: International Agricultural Research Centres

The GFAR initiative is a jigsaw puzzle in which the component parts must find their exact niche and fit perfectly for it to run smoothly, efficiently and effectively as a whole. As one of its stakeholders, IARCs are an important piece of the puzzle, with recognizable niches and crucial roles to play.

Specifically, GFAR sees them helping to address and carry out two GFAR guiding principles:

• First, they fulfill the principle of complementarity, i.e. positively exploiting the comparative advantages of partners working on a common problem. The comparative advantages of the centres are clear and easily discernible (excellent research facilities, first-class researchers, well-tested technologies ready for scaling-up, and funding advantages, etc). Other GFAR stakeholders can benefit from these advantages when they forge alliances with appropriate centres.
• Second, GFAR expects its programs and projects to add value to what each partner can accomplish individually. IARCs are very knowledgeable and proficient; however, in collaboration with other stakeholders, superior results with less duplication can be achieved faster thereby moving more quickly towards the goal of improving the livelihood of people through agricultural research and development activities.

This GFAR meeting could not have come at a better time as the centres are going through some defining moments. It is the era of CPs, and we are aware of the ongoing efforts of the interim Science Council (iSC) to set the stage for the development of a forward-looking research agenda for the system.

We invite IARCs to deliberate on and identify their niche within the GFAR initiative, and what IARCs can contribute to enhance the overall performance of the initiative

Points for discussion

GFAR invites IARCs involved in ARD to deliberate their future contribution to the GFAR initiative, and would like to solicit specific feedback on the following issues:

• emerging issues of relevance to ARD, that should be given priority in the GFAR business plan as outlined by the keynote speakers, and where IARCs can best contribute to the advancement of these issues
• specific questions and challenges raised by the GFAR Executive Secretary in his analysis of achievements, gaps and the way forward
• specific response to issues highlighted by FOs
• specific comparative advantage of the IARCs in collaboration with and contribution to GFAR, and vice versa
• comments on the conference in general, and suggestions for workshops or follow-up that are considered priorities over the next business plan
• suggestions on how to improve the representation of IARCs at SRF, RF and GFAR levels, which surely must stem from stronger IARC involvement in NARS themselves, and how this may be best fostered
• any other issue of relevance to GFAR.

Naturally these are suggestions of issues that could be discussed, therefore please add any other issues you feel are of relevance to GFAR as you deliberate and consult amongst yourselves. Your conclusions and recommendations should be such that we can use them as components of a framework for the next GFAR business plan.